After saying that, he gave Xu Weizhou a slight nod, then turned and disappeared into the crowd. His back was tall and solitary, and he soon blended into the throng where light and shadow intertwined.
It was as though that moment just now had truly been a dream, unreal and insubstantial.
Qianqian stood where she was, holding the small plate of mousse. The dessert’s fragrance drifted faintly toward her, mingling with the scent of Haicheng in her memories and… the crisp, clean fragrance of pine from inside the car that night.
Watching her dazed profile, Xu Weizhou remained silent for a moment before asking softly, “Qingqian, did you know Lu Shilin before?”
Qianqian came back to herself and slowly shook her head. “I wouldn’t say we knew each other. It’s just that… the night I returned to Jingbei, he came with my brother to pick me up.”
A look of understanding flashed through Xu Weizhou’s eyes, followed immediately by deeper contemplation.
He looked toward the direction in which Lu Shilin had disappeared, his brows drawing together almost imperceptibly.
“Lu Shilin…” He hesitated, but in the end merely reminded her gently, “He’s very capable, but also… very complicated. Qingqian, you’ve only just returned. Be more careful in everything you do.”
Qianqian nodded and scooped a spoonful of mousse into her mouth.
The smooth, rich chocolate melted across her tongue, familiar yet strange.
She lifted her eyes toward Jingbei’s heavy night outside the window, and toward the banquet hall reflected in the glass—brilliant with shifting lights, yet filled with unfathomable human motives.
She knew that from the moment she had decided to return, all of this—praise, mockery, schemes, probing, and mysterious, unfathomable people like Lu Shilin—would be part of an entirely new game of chess she had to face.
And she was no longer the Qianqian of Haicheng, who had humbled herself for love and retreated step by step.
She gently tightened her grip on the small spoon in her hand. The cold touch of metal made her even more clear-headed and resolute.
Qianqian and Xu Weizhou stayed on the terrace for a while before someone came looking for Xu Weizhou and called him away.
The terrace door quietly closed behind him, shutting out most of the commotion inside the hall.
The deep-winter night wind of Jingbei carried a biting, dry crispness. In an instant, it dispersed the sweet, stifling heat of the banquet hall and cleared some of the disorder from Qianqian’s thoughts.
She walked to the railing and drew a deep breath.
The neon lights of the distant city formed a dazzling sea of radiance, answering the sparse, spacious starry sky overhead.
Standing at the summit of such prosperity, she nevertheless felt a trace of loneliness for no apparent reason.
“Was the chocolate mousse not to your taste?”
A deep voice sounded beside her, carrying the coolness of the night wind.
Qianqian’s heart gave a sudden leap, and she turned her head.
At some point, Lu Shilin had also come out onto the terrace. She had barely heard a sound of his footsteps, yet he was already standing a few steps away from her.
He did not approach. He merely leaned against the railing on the other side, a cigarette he had not lit clasped between his fingertips. His gaze rested in the distance. Under the outline formed by the darkness of the night along his profile and the distant halos of light, his features appeared particularly sharp and cold.
“It was delicious. Thank you, Mr. Lu.” Qianqian tightened her grip on the nearly empty porcelain dish in her hand, only then realizing that she had somehow finished the piece of mousse without noticing.
The familiar sweetness had brought her more than comfort to her taste buds. It had also stirred a subtle, fluttering feeling at being “seen.”
“Mr. Lu, did you come out here to smoke? I’m fine. You can smoke.”
“You don’t mind?” Lu Shilin turned his face toward her. His deep eyes stood out particularly clearly in the night. “Girl, are you always this considerate? Clearly bothered, yet still trying to accommodate other people’s preferences and wronging yourself.”
His tone was even, yet his words seemed to carry another meaning.
Qianqian met his gaze without avoiding it. “What do you mean by that, Mr. Lu? I don’t understand.”
Lu Shilin did not answer immediately.
He raised his hand, seemingly about to light the cigarette, but after glancing at her, stopped again. He merely toyed with it in his hand.
Only after a moment did he slowly say, “Considering my relationship with your brother, wouldn’t calling me Mr. Lu be too distant? And I did personally come to bring you back to Jingbei. Given that relationship… shouldn’t you use another form of address?”
Qianqian’s expression froze slightly as she looked at the man, seemingly unable to react for a moment.
After a brief pause, she blinked and spoke slowly, with a hint of imperceptible probing in her voice. “Then… considering the relationship between you and me just now, what should I call you so it won’t seem distant?”
She had sent the question right back to him with a counterstrike.
This made Lu Shilin look at her several more times, the corners of his lips curving upward slightly at the thought of Weiwei.
The cigarette between his fingertips made a full turn before he silently put it into his pocket.
He took two steps forward, narrowing the distance until she could clearly see the scattered points of lamplight reflected in his eyes.
“Your brother calls me ‘Shilin’ in private.” His tone was steady, yet carried an undeniable suggestion. “How about you call me Brother?”
“Shilin… Brother?” Qianqian repeated instinctively. When she uttered the second word, the tip of her tongue gave a faint Weiwei-like tremble.
The form of address seemed too intimate, carrying both the familiarity of old neighbors and a certain vague ambiguity. In an instant, it drew a subtle current of air between them.
Lu Shilin watched the slight embarrassment and hesitation that flitted across her face. Deep in his eyes, a trace of an exceedingly faint smile seemed to pass, so quickly that it could not be caught.
“What is it? Is it difficult?”
He asked in a tone that revealed no emotion, but his eyes remained fixed on her.
The night wind arrived at just the right moment, carrying the cool, clean scent of the potted plants beside the terrace and lifting another unruly strand of hair beside Qianqian’s ear.
This time, she reached up and tucked it back herself.
“It isn’t difficult.” She steadied herself, lifted her eyes, and looked squarely at his face. Her voice was clear and even. “I just think that a form of address is only a form of address; it can’t represent anything. Your good relationship with my brother is the bond between the two of you. As for me… I’ve only just returned to Jingbei, and I’m still getting to know many things and people all over again, including you.”
She paused, then curved her lips into a polite yet distant smile. “So I’ll still call you Mr. Lu for now. Perhaps one day, when I feel familiar enough with you, I’ll change the way I address you.”
Those words both politely refused his attempt to immediately draw closer and left room for the future, without blocking the road entirely.
Proper, clear-minded, and carrying the soft edge that was uniquely hers.
Lu Shilin looked at her quietly for several seconds. Just as Qianqian thought he might become displeased or continue pressuring her, he gave an almost imperceptible nod instead.
“As you wish.” The two words revealed no disappointment. Instead, they held a kind of… calm that seemed to have been expected.
“The little girl knows her own boundaries. Very good.”
He no longer dwelled on the form of address and instead looked at the empty dish in her hand. “Looks like it really did taste good.”
The topic changed naturally, as if the brief contest of wills just now had never occurred.
Qianqian secretly let out a breath of relief and nodded. “It did. I haven’t had such authentic chocolate mousse in a long time. Thank you, Mr. Lu.”
“A verbal thank-you alone isn’t sincere enough…” Lu Shilin suddenly felt like teasing her. The corners of his lips lifted into a slight curve, and his eyes turned toward her with an aggressive intensity.